PonchoTA
Contributor
"Could have", but didn't. Accept that you made the mistake, and have learned from it, and move on. AND, teach others what you have learned.
I'll bet you NEVER make that mistake again!!
Setting myself up for ridicule
- Thread starter Potapko
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"Could have", but didn't. Accept that you made the mistake, and have learned from it, and move on. AND, teach others what you have learned.
I'll bet you NEVER make that mistake again!!
I posted a few months ago about a dive where I was rushing to get into the water, and did so with a half empty tank, having missed three separate occasions where I normally check my pressure.
I think any time any of us feels hurried, we need to take a deep breath and SLOW DOWN, and be even more meticulous about everything, because those are the days when scary things get missed.
It sounds as though these tanks were analyzed and properly labeled, and an error still occurred. Haste can be deadly, I think.
We own our own tanks, and store them at our house. We analyze EVERYTHING when it is picked up at the store, but I have to admit we rarely analyze again, even though it may be a few days to several weeks before the tanks are dived. Maybe I should revisit that practice.
I think any time any of us feels hurried, we need to take a deep breath and SLOW DOWN, and be even more meticulous about everything, because those are the days when scary things get missed.
It sounds as though these tanks were analyzed and properly labeled, and an error still occurred. Haste can be deadly, I think.
We own our own tanks, and store them at our house. We analyze EVERYTHING when it is picked up at the store, but I have to admit we rarely analyze again, even though it may be a few days to several weeks before the tanks are dived. Maybe I should revisit that practice.
OP
Potapko
Contributor
Another error that added to the probability of making this mistake is that I have had different gasses in these stages at different times. Therefore simply because the 21m MOD was clearly stamped on the side it (by itself didn't cause me to take notice. Had I completed the task upon filling by writnig the actual content on duct tape and placing it near the valve, I would have recognized the mistake before entering the water.
Complacency kills,
I also agree completely that rushing when preparing for ANY dive can lead to catastrophe.
dumpsterDiver
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I'm unclear what this means. You have tanks marked with big MOD letters on them, but at various times you commonly put mixes in them that do not correspond to the primary markiings on the bottle???????
In other words, you are used to using bottles that have a different mix labeled on a piece of tape at the neck , than marked on the tank with big permanent letters?
If I was presented with that kind of situation of having limited tanks, I think I would use Duct tape to completely cover the permanent tank markings and use a big majic market to label the tank correctly.
OP
Potapko
Contributor
One time I had a different gas in the tank and covered the label. From now on I will only use the tank with a gas that corresponds to the permanent label and buy or use a different tank for other gases. AND I will place the tape markings on the neck with actual measurements when filled and tested.
It became clear to me that i need to observe every precaution along the way to prevent another "senior moment" that could be my last.
Yes, that's what we do -- I don't permanently mark tanks until I've decided what they are going to be used for, and once they are marked, nothing else goes in them. Before they were permanently marked, we used duct tape and permanent marker to put a BIG, readable MOD on the side (so the buddies can see it) and on the neck (so we can see it) as well as analyzing and putting a marker tape on every tank when it is picked up at the shop.
I've read a couple of stories of people dying from the wrong gas -- I think the last one was in Asia last year, although that may have been the mode of exit of a diver in California just recently (we haven't heard the status of his valves yet). Every time I read those stories, I shudder and think how sad and how utterly avoidable that peril is.
I'm glad you posted your story. There are a lot of good points here to give us all a good wake-up call and make us all examine our diligence.
I've read a couple of stories of people dying from the wrong gas -- I think the last one was in Asia last year, although that may have been the mode of exit of a diver in California just recently (we haven't heard the status of his valves yet). Every time I read those stories, I shudder and think how sad and how utterly avoidable that peril is.
I'm glad you posted your story. There are a lot of good points here to give us all a good wake-up call and make us all examine our diligence.
Thank God it didn't! Thanks for sharing this for those who might become complacent. Each story reinforces analyze and verify the day of the dive!
Task loading? I don't see that . . . the error was made on land. Of course, he swam around a tank with a "21" MOD sticker on it, but he's told us that the sticker didn't necessary have meaning for him, because of his own practices. THAT's something he can change.
Excuse me let me re-phrase that... Mental task loading. Prior to and up to the dive. Otherwise one would have analyzed the gas prior to the dive and clearly marked it as such. People forget simple things at the first onset of task loading be it physical or mental.
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